My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Spring Training: The Phils finished their split squad game with the Tigers in an extra-innings, 4-4 tie.

The Phils second split squad game end up as an extra-innings 4-4 tie with the Tigers, after 10 innings of play.

Detroit took the lead in the first as, with one man on, and with nobody out, Ryan Raburn hits a two-run home run, knocking in Ramon Santiago, who had started the game off with a double, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The Phils cut the Tigers’ lead in half in the third as, with runners on the corners, and with nobody out, Freddy Galvis hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Pete Orr, who had earlier singled, then went to third on Brian Schneider’s single, making it a 2-1 Tigers’ lead. The Tigers then increased their lead in the fourth as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Clete Thomas hits an RBI force out, 6-4, wiping out Don Kelly, who had just singled, at second out, scoring Andy Dirks, who had earlier walked, then stopped at third on Kelly’s single, giving the Tigers a 3-1 lead. The Phils would get that run back in their half of the fourth as, with a runner on third, and with one man out, John Mayberry, Jr. hits an RBI ground out, 5-3, knocking in Hunter Pence, who had earlier doubled, then went to third on Jim Thome’s ground out, 6-3, making it a 3-2 Tigers’ lead. The Tigers got that run back in the fifth as, with one man on, and with nobody out, Raburn hits an RBI double, knocking in Santiago, who had just singled, giving the Tigers a 4-2 lead. The Phils got the run back in their half of the fifth as, with two men on, and with two men out, Thome hits an RBI single, scoring Galvis, who had earlier been hit by the pitch, then moved up to second base on Jimmy Rollins’ walk, cutting the Tigers’ lead down to 4-3, while sending Rollins, who had earlier walked, up to second base. The Phils then tied the game up at four-all in the sixth as, with two men on, and with one man out, Galvis hits an RBI single, scoring Laynce Nix, who had earlier walked, then stopped at second base on Orr’s single, while sending Orr, who had just singled, on to second base. It would remain at 4-4 as neither team would be able to score from that point, before the game was called after ten innings.

Cliff Lee pitched three innings, giving up two runs on six hits, while striking out three. Chad Qualls pitched an inning, giving up a run on a hit and walk. Jonathan Papelbon pitched an inning, also giving up a run on two hits. Phillippe Aumont, J.C. Ramirez, Jake Diekman, B.J. Rosenberg and Tyson Brummentt combined for five scoreless innings, as they gave up four walks (Aumont (2), Ramirez (1), Rosenberg (1)) between them, while striking out two (Diekman). Rick Porcello pitched four innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out two. Daniel Schlereth collected his third save of the spring as he pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up a run on a hit, a hit batter and a walk, as he struck out a batter. Jose Ortega blew his first save opportunity of the spring as he went an inning and a third, giving up a run on a hit and a walk. Chris Bootcheck, Brayan Villarreal and Robbie Weinhardt combined for four scoreless innings, giving up three hits (Bootcheck (2), Villarreal (1)), while striking out one (Villarreal).

The Phils had twelve hits in the game, with Pete Orr (Singles) leading the team with three hits, followed by Laynce Nix with two hits, both singles. Jimmy Rollins (Single), Hunter Pence (Double), Derek Mitchell (Single), Jim Thome (Single, RBI), John Mayberry, Jr. (Single, RBI), Brian Schneider (Single) and Freddy Galvis (Single, 2 RBIs) had the other seven Phils’ hits. The Phils also had three walks in the game.

The Phils (4-5-1) will continue their grapefruit league schedule with an afternoon game with the Pirates (3-6) at Bradenton, Florida. The game will begin at 1:05 pm EDT.

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